Fly Or Die

This one is hard to pigeon-hole, which is a good thing - its a mix of hip hop, jazz, prog, and rock. Truly eclectic and original. We need more modern music that's hard to label and pushes the envelope like this on this list. Plus it was a pleasure to listen to.

One thing I've enjoyed about this exercise is discovering music that is new to me and interesting to listen to. This fits the category. As in, some guy named Pharrell is on the drums, Lenny Kravitz is featured on a couple of tracks, and one guy on the cover is giving the vulcan salute. Live long and prosper.

I feel like I really like this album in theory. It has a unique sound that crosses a lot of genre lines with even some 2010s level production near the end and Pharrell is in his prime but for some reason I just couldn’t get into it. I honestly thought I was listening to the same song for the first like 20 minutes and I was just mildly bored for the rest of it. The second Lenny kravitz feature was probably my favorite but I doubt I’ll remember this album by tomorrow.

Remember back in the early 2000s when everything sounded like The Neptunes or NERD or Pharrell? I really didn’t like that homogeneous and generic times in pop. A lot of it sounds really sleazy to me. Well turns out these lads were capable of much more and have some very jazzy ideas. I guess if pop stars keep turning up at your studio, offering thousands of dollars for the next sleazy, generic hit, who can blame them for grabbing the cash?

Can’t believe this was made by a man made out of legos

I'm not sure what this album was supposed to be.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" was my first thought after listening to the first song. The cover, after all, is horrible. Based on it, I was expecting a 1/5 album. I appreciated the first song and that's it - unfortunately, the longer I was listening the worse it got. Don't give me hope and then take it violently!

Pharell is my enemy

not my bag but alright. Real good melodies, not abrasive... just nothing special to take away from the listening experience

It's a catch 22. His voice doesn't work for the music they are playing. And I think he knows it. He tries to hide how smooth and soulful his voice really is when he tries to growl out some of these lyrics. But at the same time without his voice it would just be a generic band. It's. Ok.

Can’t believe we used to let these wallies make all the music back in the 2000s. Load of shite.

wtf is this? I'm offended I wasted time on this half-arsed mediocrity, what's next - Macklemore? Utterly shit, one of the very few on this list I've skipped through without finishing (and I listened to the Lenny Kravitz album in full). I've heard better Kidz Bop compilations.

NERD’s first album, In Search Of…, deserves to be on this list, it’s excellent. At a push, The Neptunes’ album Clones could make it on the list too, if only because it signifies a time when their productions dominated pop and rap music. This album, on the other hand, is woefully bad. I actually get irritated listening to it - my first one star.

2004 must have been a year reviewers where smoking crack and taking bungs. How this is rated is beyond me, let alone in this list Absolutely terrible.

I never really knew NERD beyond She Wants To Move and this album was a delightful surprise. Fave tracks are probably Breakout, Wonderful Place / Waiting For You. I look forward to spending more time with this.

Almost jumping into guilty pleasure territory, but you know what? Guilty pleasures shouldn't exist. Enjoy what you enjoy. I enjoyed the hell out of this. It's a mix of a few different genres, and it was GREAT.

Some great song... The front half of the album slays with a slight let down on the back half but still great

Rating: 10/10

A fun album through and through. I have no real reason not to give this 5-stars, other than it doesn't FEEL like a 5-star masterpiece. Just good music. The bonus tracks are a bit annoying - I wish they would just make them their own tracks.

What a great record. I’ve always liked Pharrell, but knew nothing about his part in this outfit. This is not a hip-hop album. It’s high-quality pop. Full of great hooks and totally interesting music. Particularly love the opening track, Don’t Worry About It, Backseat Love, She wants To Move & the epic Wonderful Place (with hidden track Waiting For You) - so personal & unlike anything else on the album. And special mention to Maybe, which features Lenny Kravitz & Questlove - a quality ballad. No duds here. They even get away with the repetitive refrain of the name Mildred in the final track. That’s good going.

I played this a few times while doing different things with two of my adult kids. They knew it and also knew Pharrell’s other projects. I never heard of them. I was also told that NERD stands for “no one ever really dies.“ We were hiking and cutting through a graveyard when I was told this so I had a hard time getting it. When I first saw the album I mistakenly thought it was another hip hop offering. Glad to learn that I like rap rock more. There’s some fun stuff on this. I’ll round up.

I don't think the sound has aged super well. Some songs like Drill Sergeant sound super corny - maybe they always did. But generally the hooks are undeniable, the Neptunes production chops are there on full display. The early 2000s feels like the new 80s. Catchy songs with a sound that has aged badly, rife for guilty pleasures. Fave Tracks: Fly or Die, She Wants to Move, The Way She Dances 3.2/5

I listened to this entire album and I'm not sure what to make of it. Does it blend genres? Yes. Does it bring anything new to the table? Not necessarily. Was it memorable? Not at all.

T.U.R.D. …just kidding, a bit. It’s not bad, but it’ll wear your patience thin.

Much more boring than I thought it would be.

There’s really nothing wrong with this - it’s an interesting mashup of genres that often works well - it just wasn’t clicking with me today. I can’t put my finger on it, but there was something about it that reminded me of the Elvis Costello albums I’ve listened to in this project, and it irritated me in the same way. Too upbeat, maybe? Hovering between a 2 and a 3…

Never heard of this outfit and listening i know why. Music not made for my age group so cannot comment. Do not like at all. 1/5 18/5/34

Like his gigantic hat, I think this falls into Pharrell's "questionable choices" category. The chords and syncopation felt really at odds with the vocal style and fuzzy guitars. Tonally it feels dated and emotionally immature with stuff like Jump. I feel like the idea had merit in exploring whatever intersection there may be between rap rock and jazz and but the execution fell steeply short of being an enjoyable listen. It felt like the sort of thing your friend who definitely should keep his day job would foist upon you, saying he's hit on something truly unique. I started to feel embarrassed listening and did not finish. On the other hand it was good to be reminded that even the greats can take big swings and miss, and it doesnt invalidate the great other stuff theyve made. Will not be revisiting.

Genuinely shocked by how much I hated this. Pharrell just doen't have the vocal talent to elevate his cheesy ass lyrics. The drum sounds are mixed so lound in each song. Drill Sergeant is one of the worst 'protest' songs I've ever heard and sounds like it was made by a 15 year old who has never read a book but has heard of a few. 1/5

This was honestly a slog to get through. I found I was constantly checking how many more songs I had left before I could tick this off. Safe to say I will not be listening to this again.

Wow, did I hate this! It's just so aggressively mediocre - why is it on this list?!? I can't figure out the audience for this and the vocal style is just so weird and underwhelming

I was not expecting this low on 1001 albums. My time has been wasted

fun!

I discovered N.E.R.D maybe a year ago fell in love pretty quick, but haven’t heard this album before. It’s categorized as hiphop/rap, but it has more consistent rock production elements to it than any other N.E.R.D record I’ve listened to… which I dig. I think Seeing Sounds is still MY top nerd album, but this should no less a testament to N.E.R.D‘s versatility and range (which, given all the talent in the project’s roster, is expected)

Could be a hot take, but this album was incredibly good. Production and diversity were vast with the only blemish being Backseat Love because wtf?

N.E.R.D FOR LIFE

Loved this album

wasn't expecting something like this today! is it pop, rock, funk? i don't know for sure, but when you take the likes of chad hugo, shae hayley, and freakin' PHARRELL WILLIAMS?! you might just have an overlooked masterpiece. compared to their last album, they're playing the instruments themselves instead of producing beats electronically. this album has a heavy nostalgic energy to it; if you were the awkward kid just trying to get through the likes of high school, you might relate to the album's themes of social alienation, peer pressure and the earnest dreams of youth. definitely the sort of album you don't wanna miss out on.

I’ve definitely heard of N.E.R.D before, but I’ll admit I knew nothing about them. I didn’t even know that Pharrell Williams was in a band before going solo, so perhaps I live under a rock. After seeing that a super-popstar was involved, I didn’t expect the album to be as rock influenced as it was. It’s a fascinating mashup of rock, pop, with some hip hop tendencies too. The only other person I can think of with a similar sound to this is Lupe Fiasco, which is definitely high praise. I liked this album much more than I expected to.

Yeahhhhhh. This shit BANGS. Also Pharrell invented tyler the creator damn.

Perfect album for a sunny day

PHARELL WILLIAMSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Oh my God. I love this album so much and did NOT expect to see it here. What a great surprise. I didn't know that anybody really knew about this album. Pharrell's funk rock album. It's just awesome. It's cool to see other people recognize it as special.

Liebe das Album. Backseat Love immer noch ein Hit.

N.E.R.D. will always have a space in Hip-Hop lore because of their versatility. The way this album has so many different genres flowing through it is what makes it so great. They did a lot of different things very well on here and they also made it make sense. I understand the low ratings because people in general have a hard time with things when they can’t find a box to place it in. So they reject it because they just can’t compute it. I implore you to put what you usually think something of a certain genre should sound like and try to listen with an open mind. It might sound way different to you plus that’s what this project is all about! Fantastic album, legendary collective, 757 forever!

Exceptional rock rap infusion. Very well done.

Amazing, never heard it before, was enjoying every song

I think I really liked this album a lot. I ended up listening to it on repeat about four times while on the computer just unwinding. There is an era of music I think this fits neatly into and that 2004 date does not surprise me at all. Its hard to get into the technical aspects because it overall just took me such surprise. I read some reviews which I don't want to do for any other album but something I saw the idea of these musicians subverting the expectation by creating such a different style of music than they normally do. I don't know if it was that exactly or the lack of sleep but I greatly enjoyed this album all the way through, I mean my god, Lenny Kravitz. Amazing.

Immediately hooked by the funk and the vibe keeps hold. So much talent in this group making cross-genre songwriting and instrumentation seamless and groovy.

Ah, so this is why Pharrell is a star… Enjoyed this one a lot. Big fan.

Very nice.

actually kinda fire ngl, wasn’t expecting to love it but every song hit and i could for sure return to it. it isn’t necessarily perfect so i don’t think it’s a sure 5 star, but it’s closer to a 5 than it is a 4.

NERD is a great band that is hard to categorize. It has a touch of rap, rock and jazz. There's a technical genius in this music as well as a casual vibe ("Every once in a while there's that same asshole / Try to swing and hit, 'cause the things he can't control"). I'm an old fan of this band and this album and it's a pleasure because it never gets old.

enjoyed this a lot

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this album as much as I did. Great album.

a great surprise!

I had this album when it first came out, although I didn't listen to it loads. I think it is good background music - music to listen to while driving

nahhh this is my favorite album of all time! omg! it’s already getting 5 stars!

11/28/23. I have to give Pharrell his due here; this album flows really well and diverse! I love hip hop albums that push the boundaries. Will add to the rotation.

Unfair, because this is an album I listened to for months whenever I was on the train to school. Happy to report it still holds up after all these years, but that might just be nostalgia and memories talking. Who cares if it does, though?

Emo

vai nerdola

Este álbum me sorprendió. Una energía rockera, pero con muchas atmósferas de pop, hip-hop y funk. Una gran calidad de producción y mucha variedad de propuestas. Tal vez esa variedad de propuestas es lo que también pesa negativamente en el álbum. Podría haber sido una mejor experiencia de escucha si hubiesen descartado algunos de los temas. Por momentos los estilos entre temas pasan a ser demasiado disímiles, además de que varios de estos son excesivamente largos. Aún así lo considero un muy buen álbum. No sabía de la existencia de la banda, ni tampoco sabía que Pharrell Williams había era parte de ella.

This was weird. Good weird, but weird nonetheless. I only knew She Wants To Move going into this listen - nobody in the history of music has said the word "sexy" with anywhere close to that level of drama - and I genuinely didn't know what to expect. I particularly liked Breakout and Thrasher, but I enjoyed pretty much all of it and would absolutely listen to it again. I am frustrated that Wikipedia did not explain why two members of Good Charlotte ended up on a track (Jump), but shout out to the Genius contributor who annotated the line "Now I'm in with the - negotiator" from Fly or Die with: "The negotiator is now helping the teen with his problems, who is now on the verge of ending it all. Let's hope the negotiator is skilled at his job, like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 1 (when he saves the guy from killing himself by jumping off a roof)." I surprised myself with how much I liked this. 4/5

this made me nostalgic and it's still so vibey omg. i love a long song you know me...

Funky, fluide, parfois intime et sensuel, souvent ironique.

Super interesting rap pop vibe. It’s rap but not but disco & funky I like it. Never heard of this artist. Feels like the album splits multiple genres into one

They said this was hip-hop. Everywhere I looked said this was hip-hop. What the fuck are they talking about. There were elements of rock, jazz, R&B, and lots of other genres, but I don’t think a single part made me think hip-hop. Given the mixture of all those genres, though, it made for a very unique sounding album and I enjoyed it happily. It was just a delight. Kind of long, but really very fulfilling. 4/5

Fun album with a lot of variety, even if a lot of it is by the numbers. 3.5/5.0: Very Good

interesting mix of genres, certainly not what i expected when i saw pharrell. if all of his music was like this id probably like it more. some of the ideas feel a little half baked but overall pretty enjoyable

Pretty fun and dynamic rap/pop/rock album. Lyrics don't always hit home, but the latter half of the album has some incredible beats and instrumentation to make up for it.

Not what expected, didn’t really look at the cover at first and so was expecting straight hip hop, ya know 3 guys, stars n stripes etc. Should have noticed the Vulcan live long…, it’s more its pop, rock n funk influences, can hear the Prince influence, and 70s funk in there. It doesn’t sit in one place And all the better for it, will definitely listen to again, pleasant surprise 4 Star.

Det her var en positiv overraskelse. Jeg kendte selvfølgelig She Wants To Move, men resten var ukendte perler for mig. Hemmelig nummer finten var også et dejligt throwback.

Cover 6 Interesting and different. In a good way. Didn't know Pharrell Williams was part of this group. Cool.

I just started listening and I thought this kind of sucked but Drill Sergeant isn't bad and got me to give it a shot. Wait, what? This is Pharrell? It's crazy that he was doing this before the Arby's hat. I'm kind of amazed how much I wasn't hearing by background listening to it. What is going on. Why is Lenny Kravitz in here. This does make sense to be on the list. It's interesting and for sure is trying to be unique in the approach. This album led to a rabbit hole and now I'm a huge fan of Pharrell as a person. The Nardwuar interview talking about Carl Sagan is better than this album.

Terrible album cover. Sounds like it's influenced by Bowie, Queen and Prince at times. Some interesting stuff, variety, but sonically gels. Pharrell has shown he and the people he works with understand how to craft a song for the main stream. I like that this feels a little more off the path.

NERD brought the original funk before Pharrell went full Hollywood.

“Maybe” is an incredible song

Honestly, I enjoyed that far more than I expected to.

Hip-hop-y but not too much, I enjoyed it

Didn’t know these until this album was selected. Pleasantly surprised by what I heard here. One I’ve added to my

Liked this band when they broke through in my college years. Expertly tapping into a whole host of genres. Lots of fun.

Have semi-heard of this group, but never really listened to their album before. I actually got into this one, and that prompted me to check out their debut album which is pretty amazing and I like that one more than this one. 3.5/5 stars = 4.

funky stuff. 3.5 rounding up

This was pretty crazy - I'd never heard these guys before and just slightly familiar with Pharrell's bigger later works so no idea what to expect here which ... I'm still not sure how to categorize it - is it rock? it's not really rap-rock... some fusion? some jazz elements? Next generation P-Funk disciples? Who cares - the music was great - never predictable, organic instruments with a 21st century modern sound (which despite a few overly in-the-can type mixing moments that took me out of the flow a bit) worked perfectly. Negatives: I noticed the lyrics and while they're not terrible ... I noticed them. Seemed a throwaway on a lot of tunes, and maybe that's not fair -there's a uniqueness to the music that maybe didn't or wouldn't lend itself to anything deeply introspective or cosmic or or or. Idk, I'm not the lyrics guy, stop asking me. Seems hypocritical for me to criticize the lyrics and after a 2nd listen I realize they bug me *because* they distract me from how complex and interesting these musical arrangements are. I'm willing to ignore them for the most part. TL;DR: Definitely unique, felt a little long in the tooth after a while but very worthy of a listen. Wavering between 3 and 4, probably would listen again - after looking at some my other 3s I'm feeling like I should be more generous here... 7/10 4 stars.

8/10

8/10 so distinctly Pharrell-ian, it makes you wonder what the other two guys are doing here

All songs are nearly great, but not quite. Production is good. I can understand why people like it. Favorite song: breakout.

I remember liking this a lot more in high school. Some songs have aged exceptionally well. Others….

i'm familiar with N.E.R.D by way of "In Search Of..." and "NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES." i've haven't heard their other albums yet, including this one Don't Worry About It - 3/5 Fly Or Die - 4/5 Jump - 4/5 Backseat Love - 3/5 She Wants To Move - 4/5 Breakout - 5/5 Wonderful Place - 5/5 Drill Sergeant - 4/5 Thrasher - 5/5 Maybe - 5/5 The Way She Dances - 5/5 Chariot Of Fire - 5/5 Average score: 4.3/5 (rounding down) this was a nice listen. not a nice enough listen to give a 5-star rating like i hoped i would, but still pretty good. i had higher hopes going of absolutely loving this one considering my being a fan of N.E.R.D and Pharrell's production in the past, but in the end i'm not totally disappointed it was refreshing to hear the blend of different genres, and this combination of sounds is fun to listen to... when it was executed well. after the rocky start with the first 5 tracks, the last 7 finally came in to bless my ears. Breakout was my favorite song here by far, followed by Wonderful Place and Maybe. in my opinion, the instrumentation in the last 2/3 of the album was far more complimentary to Pharell's voice as well compared to the abrasiveness early on personally, i think this album is a great one that just so happens to have a rough start. it lacks some cohesion, and it took some patience getting past the first few songs, but the album's well worth listening to after that. perhaps in time it'll grow on me more

Wildly eclectic amazing musicality. Lyrics and off key vocal approach takes me out lf it sometimes though.

Such a fun and eclectic album! Only NERD I had listened to was their 2017 album which I love, and have been very aware of Pharrell as a big fan of a lot of the artists he influenced. This album was a very cool peak into that influence. I was not expecting it to be so rock forward, but the silliness of the rap rock was done excellently. Favorite tracks - a lot of them 8/10

While this didn't grab me in the way that "In Search Of..." did, I still found it's looseness to be enjoyable and charismatic, even if it bordered on feeling phoned in at times. I still appreciate this fusing of rap and rock (and a fair amount of funk) to the Limp Bizkit style swill that populated the airwaves leading up to it.

Thought this might be dated and was only familiar with the one hit (She Wants to Move) - but added a few others (Breakdown, Drill Sergeant, Jump) to playlists and enjoyed this a lot overall. Have a feeling this'll go into regular rotation.

Not bad. I didn't jive with all the songs, but I think they had some good instrumentals with some decent vocal work. 'Breakout' was my fave.

I liked this. The dog bark at the beginning of “She Wants to Move” made my irl dog bark.

Real good fun, with likable buoyancy and fluidity keeping this out of many of the usual sins of rock-rap. Also the risk of Pharrell aiming be to too clever is largely avoided. "The Way She Dances" is great.

Much better than I expected. Bursting with early 2000s sounds while still coming off as original.

It's been a long time since I listened to this album. I really liked it when it was released, although I admit a lot of the attraction was Alicia Dixon, who never looked so good, dancing on the video for "She Wants To Move", which is probably still the best track. The album stands up. I have a lot of respect for Pharrell's talent and N.E.R.D. is where the Neptunes production is brought to a more rock/pop genre. In this album I can hear influences from artists I love - Prince and Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, The Zombies, Isley Brothers. I liked listening to it again and should give the more recent reunion release a listen.

The second half of this is stronger than the first. I enjoyed it but perhaps for nostalgia reasons more than the musicality. There was a time when pharell was all over every song in the charts. Remember being at Rhythm and Vines music festival in new Zealand on new years eve 2010/11 and NERD were the headliner. It was class, so bonus point for that